A.M. Links: Bombs Over Baghdad Again, Maybe; No Legal Pot in Arizona, For Now; Russia and Ukraine Discussing Ceasefire

• 

  Reason

  President Obama is reportedly considering an aerial bombing campaign in Iraq, something the country's prime minister expressed an interest in last week.

• An initiative to legalize marijuana won't be on the ballot in Arizona this year—the group backing the measure has stopped collecting signatures.
• The presidents of Russia and Ukraine discussed a ceasefire in southeastern Ukraine after a pipeline fire the Ukrainian government blamed on separatists broke out.
• Several people were killed in a northern Nigeria venue where the World Cup was being watched.
• Monday night's World Cup match between the U.S. and Ghana garnered 16 million viewers, a record for soccer in the U.S.
• The Metropolitan Opera in New York City canceled plans to simulcast The Death of Klinghoffer after concerns the opera, which depicts the 1985 hijacking of a cruise ship and the killing of an elderly Jewish man, could provoke an anti-Semitic reaction.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

President Obama is reportedly considering an aerial bombing campaign in Iraq...

Shock and aw, come on, are you serious?

[wareagle]

the guy who ran on how horrible Iraq was, how troops needed to be pulled out yesterday, etc etc, is now the guy ready to send in the troops? Cue the progs on why this is okay.

[Doctor Whom]

It's completely different because it's our team doing it, and you're a racist for saying anything about it now, and look, over there, something about a celebrity.

[gaijin]

Well, hey "the country's prime minister expressed an interest in [bombing] last week". We're just serving our client state.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Why would any one actually invite Death From Above into their country?

[UnCivilServant]

Because they want to retain control and don't have the capacity to enact it on their own?

[EDG reppin' LBC]

I think it is a misguided way to retain control. Aerial bombing tends to create chaos.

[UnCivilServant]

As does desperation.

If you can't make them love you, you have to make them fear you.

[Rich]

Moreover, are you gonna dis The Center for American Progress, a think tank with close ties to the White House?

[Palin's Buttplug]

There won't be any ground war from the US. The same idiots claiming there will be one in Iraq were wrong about Syria too.

Libya is Obama's MO. Kill the thugs on the cheap and use the locals to do the dirty work.

[Ed]

And Libya worked out awesome, if his goal is to plant the seeds of failed states.

[Palin's Buttplug]

"Planting seeds" is so last decade.

[WTF]

BUSHPIGS!!11!!!!CHRISTFAGS!!11!!!

[VG Zaytsev]

Yeah, now we call it enabling terrorists.

[MJGreen]

Yep. "Wreck shit up" is the new strategy.

[Dances-with-Trolls]

It's just amazing courage that he is willing to consider this given the firestorm he's sure to suffer from groups like Code Pink. It must be terribly difficult to keep his concentration with the media endlessly highlighting the human and financial costs of these unnecessary wars by interviewing these groups and letting them share their opinions on major media outlets.

[Palin's Buttplug]

U.S. Rules Out Iraq Airstrikes for Now
President Barack Obama Is Opting to Pursue Alternate Strategies

http://online.wsj.com/articles.....1403050875

"Don't Do Stupid Shit" - The Obama Doctrine is sensible.

[WTF]

Don't lock eyes with 'em, don't do it. Puts 'em on edge. They might go into berzerker mode; come at you like a whirling dervish, all fists and elbows. You might be screaming "No, no, no" and all they hear is "Who wants cake?" Let me tell you something: They all do. They all want cake.

[VG Zaytsev]

So now Doctine means the absolute opposite of what a current administration does?

[Auric Demonocles]

Don't be surprised when they change their tune to "It's Bush's fault (we pulled the troops out)". Though at least that will be accurate.

[Matrix]

Probably. They credit Obama for withdrawing the troops from Iraq, but it was a planned timeline that was made when Bush was in office. Obama only had to carry it out, which he did. But he gets all the credit for ending the Iraq War. Now that we may possibily be going back in to restablize the country, Bush will get blamed for that timeline, though the praise on Obama for ending it will never be rescinded by the left. DOUBLE DOWN, BABY! That's all they know how to do.

[Auric Demonocles]

You're being too generous to Obama. He tried to get Iraq to let them stay past the timeline but Iraq refused him.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

I haven't followed the UKIP closely enough to know what the heck the journalist is trying to pull here. Is the media treating it like how the Tea Party are portrayed? Is the UKIP like Le Pen in France? Something else?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idxUlYsSqKo

[Restoras]

Don't worry, Rufus, rest assured someone on the Reason staff will post an article on UKIP and its crypto-fascist leanings soon enough.

[Raven Nation]

A brief Reason take:

http://reason.com/blog/2014/05.....pendence-p

And one a little more general:

http://reason.com/blog/2014/05.....-europes-p

[Fist of Etiquette]

...the group backing the measure has stopped collecting signatures.

They got distracted.

[WTF]

I was gonna work to pass a law,
But then I got high...

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

+ 1 Afroman

[BakedPenguin]

I think that's Towelie, SS.

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

http://www.metrolyrics.com/bec.....roman.html

[BakedPenguin]

Oh yeah, I forgot that song.

...guess why.

[l0b0t]

Big Al Carson does a great NOLA blues cover of it.

http://youtu.be/y5cOjvTOvzU

[Brett L]

This would totally be my kitty. Oh hai, bigger kitteh. I will dominate you!

[Slammer]

So cool!

[SugarFree]

The link goes to a photo spread of underage Asian girls.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

And your point is?

[Libertarian]

Have you not heard of trigger warnings?

[UnCivilServant]

Trigger warnings offend me.

[JWatts]

Oops sorry.

Trigger Warnings ahead!

[SugarFree]

Or, rather, hovering over the link brings up a photo collage of underage Asian girls.

[Brett L]

Wat? No, its a housecat and a lynx. Am I missing a joke?

[SugarFree]

With Chrome and SwiftPreview, it's the Asian girls rather than the lynx and housecat.

[Carl ?s his privilege]

Sounds like it's time for me to switch browsers

[RBS]

I use Chrome and didn't get that. Time to email the Google complaint department.

[Warty]

Oh yeah, look at that. 6/10 not pornographic enough.

[SugarFree]

It might be from a balloon fetish site.

[Pathogen]

And you're going to jail...

[RBS]

The FBI has frozen your browser and you must pay a fine, entered into this unknown source, before they will unlock it. Or you're going to jail.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I never thought I'd say this, but thank you SugarFree, you saved me from looking at porn.

[Warty]

Calicos. So domineering.

[Brett L]

Yes. Holy shit, yes. She spits at me when I don't let her bite the shit out of my hand.

[Pathogen]

That's what you get for breaching protocol...

[Brett L]

She's the scariest 3 lbs of fluff I've ever encountered.

[Warty]

I thought my tortoiseshell would get less overwhelming when she grew out of being a kitten. NOPE.

[Lady Bertrum]

You guys are still talking about cats here, right?

[Citizen Nothing]

"That cat was the best fuck I ever had." -- Steve Martin.

[Brett L]

Yes?

[Fist of Etiquette]

The presidents of Russia and Ukraine discussed a ceasefire in southeastern Ukraine after a pipeline fire...

It's all fun and games until someone loses an energy supply.

[UnCivilServant]

"You separatists were supposed to be getting us land, not costing us money!" - Russia

[sarcasmic]

Now that's what we call street art! World's largest and longest 3D street painting is unveiled on a Chinese university campus

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tra.....ampus.html

[John]

Okay sarcasmic, I owe you an apology. You were dead right about the Hillary Clinton interview yesterday and I was dead wrong. I just read the highlights and thought the objection was to what she did as a defense attorney. I understand that defending sex perverts requires some distasteful things and made the mistake of giving her the benefit of the doubt because I don't know the case well enough to judge her actions.

Her actions are not the problem. The problem is that she is proud of them. I really don't think she is even happy the guy got off. She just seems proud of the fact that she was able to slander a 12 year old rape victim and fuck with a hapless prosecutor and get away with it. I don't blame her for defending a pervert and doing what she had to do. I do blame her for judging from the interview not just enjoying doing it but being proud that she was able to do those things and get away with it. The victim and even her client are not even human beings to her. They are just player in her little internal drama that allows her to show herself to be clever.

That woman is fucking evil. That interview should end her political career, though sadly it won't. You called it and I missed it.

[sarcasmic]

np

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Professionally, of course she should be proud. She succeeded. She did 'her job.' Just like Nazis did.

Privately and morally, when she's all alone in front of the mirror with one light on, she can't be all the impressed with what she sees.

[sarcasmic]

She has no shame or conscience. Of course she's proud of what she sees.

[Restoras]

no shame or conscience

This is a prerequisite for all who lust for power for the sake of power.

[John]

If you think it is immoral to get a rapist off because the government couldn't make its case, you shouldn't be a defense attorney. I don't think it is. What is immoral is viewing having to do that as some kind of positive to being a defense attorney rather than an unfortunate but necessary part of your job. Hillary really seemed to enjoy slandering a rape victim and views getting to do so as one of the best parts of defending perverts.

My best friend is a defense attorney and has often defended sex offenders. We talk every couple of weeks and discuss strategy in his different cases. He is not ashamed of being a defense attorney. But he views defending actual guilty perverts as part of his duty to help provide everyone with a defense. He does it because it is his ethical duty to do so not because he wouldn't prefer that doing so never be necessary. Hillary seems to have a complete lack or morals or sense of duty to anyone but herself.

[Restoras]

he views defending actual guilty perverts as part of his duty to help provide everyone with a defense. He does it because it is his ethical duty to do so not because he wouldn't prefer that doing so never be necessary

If more lawyers were like this...

[John]

So do I. He is running for judge this fall. I so hope he wins. He would actually be a decent judge.

[Citizen Nothing]

Amen, John.

[Clich? Bandit]

I would like to add that PDs are an especially idealistic bunch. Many people deride them but I don't know why. They are actually paid by the state to fight the state. And the culture as I understand it (in CO at least) is exceptionally rivalrous. PDs wont even drink in the same bar as prosecutors.

[Brett L]

Part of that is that one side gets all the resources.

[carol]

You assume that Hillary has a reflection when she looks in the mirror.

[WTF]

That woman is fucking evil. That interview should end her political career, though sadly it won't.

The 'feminists' will be only too happy to defend her for this. I really don't understand what the fuck is wrong with people.

[TwB]

Yup. And the sad thing is, my mom will probably vote for Hillary in 2016 because "she's got experience" but more importantly, she's a woman, and my mom wants a female to be in charge of the WH in her lifetime. I get in really heated arguments w/ my mom over that dreadful hag, and I keep saying yes Hillary's a woman, but she's a terrible human being. Don't vote for her just because she's female. Ugh.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

She is a horrible human being and doesn't have much experience actually. But I get women wanting a woman President. It's irrational but very human to root for a class you're a member of that was systematically held down and out of competition for such things finally break that barrier. The blame there is on those who developed and supported those measures.

[Citizen Nothing]

It's why I always vote for the hillbillies.

[SugarFree]

Marcotte absolves Hillary of all sins.

You know, the same Marcotte that said that all those who defended the Duke lacrosse players were "rape-loving scum."

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Wow, holy two-face Batman... Principals over principles in spades there.

[WTF]

As sarcasmic says, it's all about principals, not principles.

[Lucky Jack]

"The problem here is a larger culture that promotes rape myths, not defense attorneys who exploit these myths"

If you see Mr. Culture, contact your local constabulary as soon as possible.

[VG Zaytsev]

Yep

[sarcasmic]

Blood curling! Shocking moment Swedish metal band throws pig's blood at the crowd? who start to vomit

Watain unleashed the blood on unsuspecting fans from the skull of a goat
It was performed as part of a Satanic ritual at the gig in Brooklyn, New York

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....vomit.html

[Ted S.]

It probably curdled their hair, too.

[Warty]

Watain's decent enough.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kP9xBlXPzbE

[Slammer]

Warty did you hear the new album? I heard very mixed things about it.

[Warty]

I haven't gotten to it. Honestly, this kind of black metal doesn't do a whole lot for me unless I'm in a very specific mood.

[Slammer]

Check out Hoth. They're extra cool if you're a Star Wars fan.

[sarcasmic]

Sounds to me like someone throwing up into a washing machine. To each their own.

[Warty]

Not to you, though. #clostetedhomosexual

[Freedom Frog]

"The band, whose members are devout devil worshippers"

Some of the fakest, corniest motherfuckers on the planet.

"The website also reported that police received no complaints and the health department had not made any move to investigate the incident."

Give it a minute. They're cooking up something.

[sarcasmic]

They're cooking up something.

Blood sausage?

[sarcasmic]

'Devil moose' smashes headfirst through Belarus coach and stops mileage clock at the number of the beast: 666.6

The moose smashed its head through the glass of the Belarus bus
Bus was travelling on a highway leading from Minsk to Kiev
The speedometer in the bus showed it stopped at the 666.6 kilometre mark
The digits 666 represent 'the mark of the beast'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....666-6.html

[Ted S.]

He's just a devil moo-oose
With evil on his mind,
Beware the devil moo-ose
He's gonna get you.

[Shirley Knott]

Could be a reunion hit for DeathTongue!

[sarcasmic]

Billy and the Boingers?

[hamilton]

U Stink But I Luv U

[db]

I.still have the vinyl insert from that book. I'll have to get a turntable.and rip.it.to mp3.

[sarcasmic]

It's on youtube.

[db]

What were the chances?

[Ted S.]

I Love You (But You're Boring)

[Mike Laursen]

Umm 666.6 ,= 666. Just like the people who said, ooh, it's 11/11/11. No, that was 2000 years ago: it is 20111!

[sarcasmic]

Now that's heavy duty fashion! Teens model incredible Duck Tape outfits in annual Stuck at Prom contest

Gabrielle Farina, 19, and Ryan Danko, 18, created their outfits for the annual Duck brand Stuck at Prom contest

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/fem.....ntest.html

[Longtorso, Johnny]

sarcasmic voted "most likely to post about teenage girls and duck tape" among all commentators.

[Fist of Etiquette]

You know, if you people would volunteer all these links to reason, maybe Reason 24/7 wouldn't be all but tits up right now.

[hamilton]

I'm not gonna cry over 24/7, Fisty.

[sarcasmic]

I'm not gonna cry over 24/7, Fisty.

24 what?

[anomdebus]

I think 24/7 is the official value of pi in Indiana

[Citizen Nothing]

+3.1

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Free Universities And No Student Loan Debt Is Hurting Denmark's Economy
...But many, in both industry and politics, feel it's become a free lunch that's giving indigestion to Scandinavia's already weakest economy.

Too many pursue "fulfilment" and too few the science and engineering degrees needed in well-paid growth sectors critical for the nation's future, they say.

Typical is 23-year-old Ali Badreldin, who is enrolled at the Royal Danish Academy of Music to become a saxophone player. "Music was always part of my life growing up so it was a natural choice," he said.

His courses are free and he gets a monthly stipend of 5,839 DKK (782 euros, $1,074) in a system where class sizes are rarely limited.

The result has Denmark spending more proportionally on education than any other country in the OECD club of 34 advanced nations.

Yet biotech firms like Novozymes say they cannot find enough engineers.

Engineering opportunities have soared in recent years in Denmark, but its youth have shunned the sector, with only one-third the OECD average contemplating an engineering career amid top-heavy enrolment in arts and humanities programmes....

[Longtorso, Johnny]

...They point to "Lazy Robert", or Robert Nielsen, an erstwhile student of social sciences, philosophy and Chinese, now 45, who shot to notoriety after proudly stating on TV that he prefers living off social benefits than taking a job he didn't find "meaningful"....

[Doctor Whom]

This is the model that my leftist Facebook friends hold up for America to emulate.

[Bam!]

"His courses are free and he gets a monthly stipend of 5,839 DKK (782 euros, $1,074) in a system where class sizes are rarely limited."

Christ.

[Bardas Phocas]

Math is hard.

[Libertarian]

But the important thing is, they're spending money.

/krugman

[John]

The problem is not the free university. It is that the youth are too dependent on welfare to be productive.

[TwB]

I mean, why take difficult college courses (engineering, math, biochem, etc) when you can play a goddamn saxophone on the public dime? And this is the model of education that progressives slobber all over? Jesus.

[UnCivilServant]

With one of the highest tax rates in the world -- at 56 percent for top earners -- big salaries mean mostly bigger taxes to sustain the welfare state. Many young Danes just don't see the point of putting in years of effort into studying for a bigger salary eaten up by taxes.

Easy answer - Take the subsidized education and flee the country. Go to a lower-taxed jurisdiction wherein the engineering degree is also in demand. A continuous brain drain will eventually bring the system down on its own when the money runs out.

[sarcasmic]

'Super bananas' could be on sale by 2020: Fruit laced with vitamin A begins human trials to tackle deficiency in Africa

Queensland University of Technology project is trialling new bananas
Pro-vitamin A enriched fruit will be tested in U.S. volunteers for six weeks
The fruit will then be grown in fields across Uganda for three years
The goal is to have the 'super bananas' in regular production by 2020
Hope is the fruit can solve Vitamin A deficiency which kills 700,000 a year

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sci.....frica.html
Just say "No!" to G! M! O!

[Doctor Whom]

My politically correct self-righteousness comes first. Those kids in Uganda will just have to understand that.

[Pathogen]

Those kids will probably die from malaria, long before starvation finishes them off. Don't blame the left though... they're just the messengers..

[TwB]

Hey, look on the bright side. If the bananas come from Australia, then they won't have the chance of carrying those damn Wandering Spiders with them. Although the folks in Africa have plenty of creatures that can kill them in an instant anyway. Damn leopards and such.

[UnCivilServant]

Africa was less lethal wildlife and more lethal diseases. It's a continent where an outbreak of hemorragic fever barely makes the news.

[TwB]

Good point. Still, those damn leopards.

[Rhywun]

Hope is the fruit can solve Vitamin A deficiency which kills 700,000 a year

Let them eat carrots.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I'd pay to see the fight between Super Banana and Devil Moose.

[sarcasmic]

Nuns sue nearby strip club for being too close to their convent with their loud noise and used condoms
Nuns claim the club violates zoning laws, which require a 1,000 foot buffer between adult facilities and places of worship
Sisters are upset by 'public violence, drunkenness, litter (including used condoms) and noise
'Pulsating and rhythmic staccato-beat noise and flashing neon lights' are disturbing the nuns too

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-club.html

[Ted S.]

I've posted this before, but it's relevant here:

Two nuns were sitting on a park bench, when suddenly a streaker ran past them.

One of the nuns had a stroke. The other couldn't reach that far.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

You're evil.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

And what the heck, racist too.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Funny. It was places like strip clubs that Jesus spent his time preaching. He went to sinners and spread the message of God's love and the hope of everlasting life directly to the people who did not know love or hope. Sounds like the nuns are missing an excellent evangelical opportunity. Catholics don't like icky sinners?

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

A convent isn't exactly the evangelizing arm of the Church, IIRC.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Never to late to start. Christian charity and all.

[hamilton]

I would think there is a real possibility for some nuns to make some cash here.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I noticed this in the article - it's not just uptight nuns *versus* everyone else:

"The village of Melrose Park and three of its residents joined the nuns in the lawsuit.

"'We are violated,' neighbor Patricia Zito told WMAQ-TV. 'We have a new generation of young families who should not put up with this.'

"The argument over the club has been ongoing since 2009, when the proposed venue was initially denied by Village Board members.

"The owners then sued and the village settled by allowing the club to open."

[Carl ?s his privilege]

WATCH: Hong Kong ad depicts domestic worker in 'blackface'

Thought that Hong Kong textbook was racist? This Hong Leong Bank advertisement for the HK market has made waves for depicting a bumbling maid in 'black face,' Hong Wrong reports.

Or whatever the Filipino/Indonesian equivalent is.

This advert's purpose is to sell domestic helper insurance, but unfortunately it seems to have become a minstrel show that would make D.W. Griffith proud. Chalk one up for racial harmony, Hong Leong.

To be fair, the ad does seem to reflect Hong Kong attitudes towards domestic help, whose treatment has been likened to that of slaves by Amnesty International.

Perhaps the Malaysian bank was trying to slip in some social commentary. But we kind of doubt it.

Whatever-face aside, the girl is pretty cute. 8/10, would reenact "The Maid".

That hair would need to be addressed, though.

[KDN]

The Chinese have totally enlightened racial attitudes.

[Brett L]

Rep. Issa raises ante on IRS, demands all equipment used by Lerner during the "lost" period be turned over on subpoena. This is how the Constitutional Republic is supposed to work, only we need more adversarial attacks.

[Bee Tagger]

The drill bits used are probably covered by state secrets, though.

[Doctor Whom]

Prepare for an avalanche of ad hominem attacks on Issa. That's SOP whenever he says or does anything that threatens the progs.

[Fist of Etiquette]

GRIDLOCK! Government would shut down!

[Dances-with-Trolls]

Well, duh, it was broken so of course they threw it out.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Who will be America's Cicero!?

[Restoras]

Interesting that this ongoing FAKE SCANDAL doesn't seem to elicit much interest from the Reason staff. The World Cup, weed, and Ukraine are much more important to Free Minds and Free Markets, I guess.

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

You left out GoT.

[Bardas Phocas]

'What does GoT tell us about poor quality hard drives?'

Film at 11.

[Rasilio]

All data must die

[Restoras]

And video games. Video games are much more critical to Free Minds and Free Markets.

Either the editors are pussies and don't want to appear to closely aligned to soemthing that makes Team Red look good - becuz Cocktail Partayz! - or they really are crypto-leftists that like to blather about Free Minds and Free Markets but don't really beleive it, and only do so to try and draw attention to themselves. "Look! We're serious JournoLists too!! C'mon, let us in your club!!"

[MJGreen]

Christ. They did 3 posts on it yesterday. Does the blog need to be all IRS scandal, all the time?

[Pro Libertate]

It's certainly worthy of coverage. The e-mail deletions don't happen unless this goes all the way up (if it were just IRS people protecting themselves and the rest of the administration were innocent, we'd see the FBI seizing equipment). It's a cover-up being conducted in broad daylight.

For you lefties that continue to pretend this isn't the real deal, just recall that some Republicans did the same thing in the run-up to Watergate. Want to be that person?

[Restoras]

Maybe, just maybe, Lerner's hard drive did crash and in the unlikeliest of circumstances that actually did delete two years of emails during the critical time period. There is a far better chance of being hit by lightning, or winning the lottery, or me going on a date with Candice Swanepoel, but you can at least intellectually wrap your head around that.

But six other people too? Are you fucking serious? Sorry, that is a blatant cover-up and likely reveals that this goes far higher than just Lerner. If it were just Lerner, she'd have already been hung out to dry.

[UnCivilServant]

In our Government IT shop, where we had far less funds to handle such things, we had three copies of your inbox. The one you read from, a backup on disk array, and a backup on tape offsite. The odds of the data actually going away are nil. So Governer Cuomo ordered a ninety day retention policy to autodelete e-mail on the assumption that it was incriminating.

[UnCivilServant]

*four if you count the local cache on your desktop.

[Pro Libertate]

And testimony from the agency already says they backup everything on remote servers. Of course.

[Raven Nation]

doesn't seem to elicit much interest from the Reason staff

Well, the Lerner e-mail news only broke last week, I think? Since then:

http://reason.com/archives/201.....-democrats

http://reason.com/blog/2014/06.....metadata-o

[Restoras]

I think Reason should be all over this like stink on shit. It doesn't seem like they are, at least not to me, but maybe that's because I view this as a greater threat to personal liberty than the Reason staff does - and to me that calls into question thier devoition to personal liberty, especially since they inisist on posting a ton of bullshit that has fuck all to do with it and seems motivated to generate page views and intramural contests to see who generates the most comments.

[Citizen Nothing]

You'd probably be the fucking editor, Resto, if only you'd learn how to spell "devoition" and "inisist."
Maybe you should start a newsletter.

[BakedPenguin]

I get the impression that stories aren't handed out, but rather the writers pick the stories they're each interested in.

This can result in omissions, such as Reason essentially avoiding the Justina Pelletier story, a horrific case of government abuse. But the stories they do write are bound to be better written and researched, since they came from genuine interest.

[Restoras]

But the stories they do write are bound to be better written and researched, since they came from genuine interest

Both praise and condemnation.

[Libertarian]

Any chance that my tax records were on that computer? Shoot, I didn't think so.

[UnCivilServant]

That machine only held incriminating e-mails.

[sarcasmic]

This Is A Call! Foo Fighters fans fund and organise gig in Virginia after tiring of waiting for Dave Grohl and co to return

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....eturn.html

[sarcasmic]

'U dnt need much, u get wages here, u get food provided and place to stay': The rough travel guide British ISIS fighters are using to lure fellow Britons in to waging Jihad in Iraq
Extremists use social media to recruit and inspire British would-be jihadists
Offer advice on exactly what to pack and how to evade security en route
Also encourage young Britons to pack smart phones and power adapters
But they say carrying Islamic texts with only draw attention to their plans
Those offering advice thought to have travelled to Iraq from Portsmouth

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....itain.html

[Jordan]

u wot m8?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Monday night's World Cup match between the U.S. and Ghana garnered 16 million viewers, a record for soccer in the U.S.

MLB will never address its pacing problem after finding this out. "Everyone likes slow, boring action? More time outs! Slow down pitching! We have to keep up with soccer!"

[Auric Demonocles]

"We better try to get batters to start faking getting hit by the pitch, too!"

[Ted S.]

Soccer matches are over in just under two hours.

How many MLB games end that quickly?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Certainly not Yankees/Red Sox games datsfirshure.

[Auric Demonocles]

That doesn't say anything about the pacing.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

This year, the average MLB game is over 3 hours.

And only 162 games too!

[hamilton]

I totally have an idea for a real time video filter that shows you only the ~5 seconds of each pitch/swing, plus any hits. And for all the rest of the time shifts to porn. Actually maybe I can exploit the Chrome/SwiftPreview thing to get that functionality for free.

[Auric Demonocles]

That sounds like a pretty awesome proposal, though it might fit in more with my conception of "good sports" if you fill the extra time with some kind of violence.

[hamilton]

Well, for practical purposes it could be maybe 10 minutes of porn and then shift to violence.

[Auric Demonocles]

It's a long game. It could probably cycle back to porn near the end.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Porn is violence!

/feminist derp

[DontShootMe]

so, in between pitches it switches to hockey?

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Do you really want your porn interrupted every 20 seconds by baseball?

[hamilton]

Hey, some of us have to think about baseball every 20 seconds during sex anyway, okay?

[BakedPenguin]

I wonder what bisexual men think about in that scenario. Softball?

[Rhywun]

A soccer match has one time out. Have you ever actually watched one?

[Auric Demonocles]

Apparently you haven't, if you are trying to argue the matches are fact passed. Just because the clock is running doesn't make the game fast.

[Rhywun]

Was that the argument I was making? I don't think so. Rather, I was implying that any comparison with baseball - truly the most boring waste of time on earth - is ridiculous.

[Slammer]

Teen opens pawn shop for collectible sneakers.

Good for him. We need more stories like this.

[Restoras]

Hoe long until it is shut down by the local Board of Health?

Used sneakers?!?! Icky! Gross!

[sarcasmic]

Lana Del Rey is lusted over by older man before being blasted by shotgun in new video for Shades Of Cool... days after disturbing 'death wish' comment

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....mment.html
She's nice enough to look at, but damn her music suuuuuuuuucks.

[Jordan]

Still not as awful as Iggy Azalea. Why would you do this to us, Australia?

[sarcasmic]

DM has something about her almost every day. That's all I know about her.

[Libertarian]

So-called celebrity makes a so-called controversial statement and gets lots of free publicity. Pardon me while I yawn.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

For World Cuppers: It's getting ridiculous. How the heck didn't Thiago Silva get red carded I'll never know. Scissor slide tackling kicks are usually automatic reds. They got Pepe right but missed Pogba's lash out.

Annoying.

No?

[Dances-with-Trolls]

There's some kind of soccer thing going on right now?

[UnCivilServant]

I don't know, I couldn't understand a word he said.

[RBS]

All I got was something about some soccer guys scissoring.

[Drake]

Everybody loves kickball now.

[Brett L]

Have you seen the Kia commercials? Adriana Lima says to be a fan. I'm a fan!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Soccer-baseball!

[Jordan]

This is how I feel all year round, since I don't watch any sports.

[Libertarian]

You are not alone.

[Lady Bertrum]

+1

UFC - the only sport worth watching.

[Tejicano]

Yeah. If all televised sports were to disappear from TV tomorrow I probably would not notice. It would have zero impact on me.

[Restoras]

But who is the Pele of anal?

[hamilton]

At the World Cup, or on HampersandR?

[Brett L]

The Portugese and the Spaniards have the early lead.

[Restoras]

Don't forget the Greeks!

[Brett L]

Resting on their laurels.

[Ska]

Thanks for your recommendation regarding my Android Chrome issue. Unfortunately, it didn't work. Squirrels are on the offensive.

[Rhywun]

The reffing has been generally awful - much worse than league games. Read somewhere they just pick refs at random from around the world, without any regard to skill.

[DJF]

"""""Monday night's World Cup match between the U.S. and Ghana garnered 16 million viewers, a record for soccer in the U.S.""""

See, see, this is what happens when you let millions of immigrants into the US, they watch soccer!!!!!!!! We need to shut the borders down now before its too late.

[Auric Demonocles]

Now here's a closed borders argument I can sympathize with.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Anyone got a good link to Bush's religion being mocked? A FB friend of mine is claiming that never happened because progs are all civil and shit.

Come on Weigel, help a brother out.

[Ed]

http://www.counterpunch.org/20.....lood-cult/

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Climate Mafia:

http://www.powerlineblog.com/a.....nicles.php

[Brett L]

Dana White decides he likes his ears more than his seat in video with Mike Tyson.

[Jordan]

Since Casey Kasem recently died, here's a hilarious bit of trivia regarding him:

Mr. Kasem left the original Transformers cartoon during production of the third season episode "Thief in the Night" because of its depiction of the highly stereotypical Abdul Fakkadi as dictator of made-up Arab state Carbombya.

[UnCivilServant]

Carbombya

That the best they had? I know it was the 80s and all, but still, you could've come up with something a bit more subtle.

[Jordan]

I appreciate the brazenness. Kinda like how the Russian fighter in Punch Out was named Vodka Drunkinski. Good stuff.

[Brett L]

The 80s was not a decade of subtlety.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Like a virgin! C'mon. Sing it now. Touch for the very first time...like a vi-ir-ir-gin...!

[EDG reppin' LBC]

For a more long form analysis of Like a Virgin.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

He was a progtard?

[Ted S.]

I thought Kasem was a Lebanese Maronite Christian, like most Lebanese-Americans. You'd think they'd have a different view of Moslem Arabs.

[Pathogen]

He was Druze

[Tonio]

The Maronites I know are not big fans of muslims (understandably) but find the still find the anti-arab stereotypes pretty obnoxious.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Several people were killed in a northern Nigeria venue where the World Cup was being watched.

You can't swing a dead cat outside the United States without hitting a World Cup viewer.

[Auric Demonocles]

...and therefore starting a brawl.

[Restoras]

Over the cat, for dinner.

[Rich]

Georgia woman is accused of damaging and flooding a stranger's home ? while naked.

Nice eyes and smile, though. Good match for Florida Man.

[Slammer]

Dammit, Rich!!!

[Rich]

Calm down, Slammer. She'd probably take you on, too.

[Auric Demonocles]

You both got scooped by the PM Links.

[Slammer]

People read the PM links?

[Rich]

What are these "PM Links" of which you speak? 😉

[Auric Demonocles]

They're where we have a really long discussion about the first news story each of us can remember.

[UnCivilServant]

PM Links don't count.

[Carl ?s his privilege]

The sarcasmic/Daily Mail guide to "women".

[sarcasmic]

Elle Fanning is not chubby.

[Jordan]

Nice.

[Lady Bertrum]

Monday night's World Cup match between the U.S. and Ghana garnered 16 million viewers, a record for soccer in the U.S.

I didn't realize there were so many Ghanaian immigrants in the US.

[Brett L]

You didn't hear about the riots in Little Ghanas in major cities across the nation?

[Lady Bertrum]

Well, the '73 immigrant riots between the Ghanaians and Liechtensteinians was epic.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

The Liechs were outnumbered.

[UnCivilServant]

But they did blend into the nearby German immigrant population long enough to weather the storm.

[Slammer]

Naked woman found vandalizing stranger's home

Man, she looks like trouble.

[Rich]

Man Says He Was 'Zombie' After Swimming In Reservoir

And so it begins ....

[Carl ?s his privilege]

500 Million Dogecoins Mined by Unknown Hacker in Malware Attack

An unknown hacker has reaped an estimated 500 million dogecoins ? worth nearly $200,000 at today's prices ? by hacking into a series of data storage hubs for computer networks, according to SecureWorks, an information services subsidiary of personal computing giant Dell.

The SecureWorks report revealed that the hacker targeted network attached storage (NAS) boxes made by Taiwan-based Synology Inc. and used its computing power to mine dogecoin through a private pool. The action caused problems for Synology's customers, some of whom reported poor performance on Facebook in February.

much hack, very coin

[Jordan]

Wow. Such sad.

[Ted S.]

Isn't Dogecoin just Bitcoin for people who have the "proper" political views?

[UnCivilServant]

I always thought it was the 'dodgy' version of bitcoin you didn't want to trust.

[Carl ?s his privilege]

If you are assuming that based on the name, you are barking up the wrong tree.

The name is based on the shibe doge meme.

[UnCivilServant]

I was trying for a pun.

I failed.

[Bardas Phocas]

Really? I thought it was a Venician currency.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doge_of_Venice

[Carl ?s his privilege]

Not really. It's mostly for people who want it as a joke and/or online tipping currency, and for speculators. There's also the fundraising angle.

[Brett L]

From the "people less credible than the Obama adminstration" file: Stratfor Chief questions timing of Benghazi capture.

[WTF]

"The surprise arrest Sunday of a "key leader" of the attacks on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, who had been living openly and interviewed by the media despite being indicted nearly a year ago, has prompted speculation the raid was timed to take the heat off an increasingly beleaguered White House."

Doesn't seem very far-fetched to me.

[Libertarian]

Every week there is a new scandal involving the administration. And you're telling me they're planned? Color me skeptical.

[Pro Libertate]

Since Obama is so good, personally, at catching terrorists barehanded, I see a career for him post-presidency as a reality show bounty hunter. Obama: The Terrorist Hunter.

[Brett L]

No, but this is a stopped-clock story. Stratfor was wildly wrong for years about everything. And they started as a private intelligence service for O&G companies with assets in sketchy parts of the world.

[Carl ?s his privilege]

Paper panda army checks in at Hong Kong airport

The paper panda-pocalypse has finally arrived in Hong Kong! 1,600 paper pandas checked in at Hong Kong Airport after taking a charter flight and enjoying their in-flight bamboo meals, as shown in this promotional video from World Wildlife Fund Hong Kong.

The recycled paper-made pandas have been winning the hearts of fans in Europe and Taiwan. They will be displayed in six locations in the city during their "tour" in Hong Kong in the following weeks.

Lovely though the pandas are, French artist Paulo Grangeon would rather citizens focus more on the serious conservation message instead of just snapping pictures of their cuteness.

[Rich]

Handcuffed man shoots at officers using gun from butt cheeks

Sounds like something out of a James Bond movie.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I'm not sure those are genuine Bond films you're watching.

[Rich]

Oh.... Oooohhhhhhh!

/Edith Bunker

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Bung. James Bung.

[Rich]

"Shaken, not stirred."

[PBR Streetgang]

License to Thrill.

[Brett L]

Dude looks like he was smoking meth for several days. Lookit those eyes.

[Ted S.]

Is this on video? Sounds like something the popo would make up.

[Carl ?s his privilege]

Apparently they have hipsters in Hong Kong, too: 'Bad-Eating Groups' Love to Hate Hong Kong's Ming General Restaurant

Ming General has become a media sensation in Hong Kong thanks to young diners like Mr. Tsang, who belong to "bad-eating groups." The groups, casually created among friends or convened online, seek out what they consider bad food, and then talk about it endlessly.

[Libertarian]

Thank god that that "Clinton sun" on the Reason cover is in the west. For a minute, there, I thought it was rising. Whew.

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

"You would do well Lucius Cornelius Sulla to remember that more men worship the rising sun than the setting sun"

[Pro Libertate]

Spartacus?

[Pro Libertate]

No, wait, that can't be right--that was after Sulla was dead.

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

Pompey to Sulla

[Pro Libertate]

I knew I'd read that before--is Plutarch the source?

[Warty]

Governor Clooney

[Bam!]

Governor Derp

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Just what's needed. More pretenders in office.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Shared on FB, WARNING, addicting info link!

The U.S. Navy Just Announced The End Of Big Oil And No One Noticed

The Navy appears to have achieved the Holy Grail of energy independence ? turning seawater into fuel. Curiously, this doesn't seem to be making much of a splash (no pun intended) on the evening news...

I expect the GOP to go ballistic over this and try to legislate it out of existence. It's a threat to their fossil fuel masters because it will cost them trillions in profits. It's also "green" technology and Republicans will despise it on those grounds alone. They already have a track record of trying to do this. Unfortunately, once this kind of genie is out of the bottle, it's very hard to put back in.

[UnCivilServant]

The page wouldn't load.

Just curious, was this the technology which required the ample available electricity from a nearby nuclear reactor to initiate a process that could not be rolled out on land without a gratuitous investment in fission plants?

[Warty]

The Navy people don't want to say it for some reason, but reading between the lines makes it clear that you need a nuclear reactor for this. Which is good, to be honest. Maybe the greens will finally catch up to the 70s and admit that more nukes are what we need.

http://www.nrl.navy.mil/media/.....ea-concept

[db]

A while back I.did.some.digging on this and found some patents assigned to the.Navy that pretty much cover this. The basics:

Nuclear reactor to supply required energy enables the conversion of.CO2 and water to producer gas (CO and H2) which is then run in a Fischer-Tropsch alkylation up to jet-fuel carbon.chain lengths.

This is absolutely not an energy saving system nor a free fuel panacea. It's just a way.to.basically make jets nuclear powered without.installing reactors.in them.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

So the aircraft carriers wouldn't have to haul around millions of gallons of jet fuel? Reduce fleet size (fuel transports, oilers, etc.)?

[db]

Sure, why not. It's not "the end of big oil" as the linked article crowed.

[Brett L]

Cheap enough breeder reactors could turn all that rising sea-level into transportation fuel at more or less carbon neutral levels. Hold on, I'm starting my kickstarter page.

[db]

A Kickstarter for breeder reactors.is.basically applying for every watch list the US has.

[Brett L]

No, no, no. I'm just going to BUY one. To save the environment.

[Brett L]

Oh shit. Pebble-bed reactors. I used exactly the wrong term.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Yeah, I vaguely remember seeing something about this awhile ago.

But right, basically it will require just as much, if not more, energy to produce.

[Ted S.]

Wait until the greenies say this is going to spell environmental doom for the oceans.

And it's not the GOP that hates nuclear.

[Andrew S.]

Relevant Dilbert: http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2008-05-02/

[Dances-with-Trolls]

Oh good. That solves the rising sea levels and now we can ignore all that AGW nonsense hereafter.

[Pro Libertate]

Politics, economics, environmental concerns, and everything else aside, I'd love to stop burning stuff to produce energy. It's embarrassing that we can't supply all of our energy needs by harnessing more fundamental forces. Just imagine the humiliation when aliens come and see that we're burning shit.

Of course, we could go nuclear right now, but for some reason we don't want to do that. If the loss of fossil fuels were really imminent, we'd be on a crash course to build hundreds of nuclear plants. The fact that we aren't shows how untrue those claims are.

[Clich? Bandit]

My Pa was a nuclear geologist and the first time I learned that all a nuclear reactor is is a giant tea kettle I was very disappointed. I had thought that nuclear was a different way to make electricity but it isn't. It just boils water and spins magnets. Coal, boils water spins magnets. Oil, boils water spins magnets. Windmill, chops birds spins magnets. Dam, flood 3000 year old villages and spins magnets. PV...now THAT doesn't spin magnets...but it sucks.

And as for propulsion, chemical is somewhere near 4 or 5 orders of magnitude less efficient than fission, 10 oom as fusion, and about 100 orders less than perfect e=mc2 (matter x antimatter). very depressing.

[Pro Libertate]

Yeah, same reaction. Steam? But if we head that direction we can get to better stuff, like fusion.

[Warty]

"I can't hear you. There's too much money in my fuckin' hand."

Oh god, I love this little asshole. He's unbearable.

[Drake]

I love it.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

He's amusing. We'll know in a few months if he's a genuine NFL QB, or just clown shoes.

[Pro Libertate]

He'll go out in a blaze of glory. Likely unrelated to football. I've got a vision of him waking up in Bora Bora with ten women, a mule, and Charlie Sheen narrating his day via Skype (and posting the whole thing on a blog). A Shaolin-like training ritual.

[Brett L]

Yeah. Honestly, I hope he tramples the division while he's at it. Maybe going so far as to literally wag his dick in the face of the Ravens.

[Pro Libertate]

I'm pretty dubious about him having much success (though I think he might avoid total bust, maybe), but the fun we'll have will be epic. If only Tebow were still in the league, preferably in the same division.

[The Late P Brooks]

CHEATS

Over the last couple of decades, the few international economists who have addressed this question have offered a simple explanation: tax evasion. Money that, say, leaves the United States for an offshore tax shelter is recorded as a liability here, but it is listed nowhere as an asset ? its mission, after all, is disappearance. But until now the economists lacked hard numbers to confirm their suspicions. By analyzing data released in recent years by central banks in Switzerland and Luxembourg on foreigners' bank holdings, then extrapolating to other tax havens, Mr. Zucman has put creditable numbers on tax evasion, showing that it's rampant ? and a major driver of wealth inequality.

Hoarders! Wreckers! Plutocrats!

Just think of all the Good Works which could be done with that money, if only it could be gotten into the hands of noble government bureaucrats and planners.

[UnCivilServant]

If they lowered the tax rates, the cost of evading taxes would become higher than the cost of paying them and evasion would go down.

[Ted S.]

I say "avoision".

[Pathogen]

What? And deny those noble government bureaucrats and planners the smug satisfaction of raping the wealthy whilst robbing them? Tax revenues are soo much sweeter, sooo much more rewarding when taken by force... And the rich? Ha! they'll just lay there, supine.. and take it..

[The Late P Brooks]

More:

"There's a profound shift in attitudes that happened in the 1980s," Mr. Zucman says. "In the '50s, '60s and '70s, taxes were much higher, yet it was not considered normal to try to aggressively minimize your tax bill and even to evade taxes." He finds it "no coincidence" that the era of widespread tax evasion began in the Reagan era, with the rise of the idea that government is a beast that must be starved.

Because large-scale tax evasion skews key economics statistics, it hampers officials' ability to manage the economy or make policy, Mr. Zucman says. It erodes respect for the law, preventing the government from carrying out one of its essential tasks. And it discourages job creation, since it rewards people and corporations for keeping money overseas, instead of investing it domestically.

The horror.

The HORROR.

[Andrew S.]

Not considered normal to aggressively minimize tax bills in the 50s, 60s, and 70s? What on earth is he talking about? It was incredibly normal. People talk about those 90% and 70% marginal rates back then. Nobody paid those. There were more tax shelters than people knew what to do with. When the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 was enacted with a 39.6% top rate, lots of people were paying a lot more in taxes.

[Bam!]

Yup. See this graph.

[Sevo]

..."In the '50s, '60s and '70s, taxes were much higher, yet it was not considered normal to try to aggressively minimize your tax bill and even to evade taxes."...

Well, look, maybe he was on one of Jupiter's moons at the time.

[John]

The funny thing about that is that if you really care about the tax system and the government's ability to wring big money out of the taxpayers, you should care most of all about people's perception of the IRS' integrity and people's perception about where their tax money goes. So what has the great liberal President Obama done in office? Undermined people's faith in the IRS by using it as a weapon against his enemies and handed out hundreds of billions of dollars to his cronies. Obama is sewing the seeds of liberals' destruction. If they were not insane, it would be liberals who most of all wanted to impeach him.

[sarcasmic]

Undermined people's faith in the IRS? Who the fuck has any faith in the IRS?

[John]

They may hate the IRS but they at least fear it enough to generally not cheat on their taxes. If people start to think that the IRS just fucks with people based on politics, they will lose a whole lot of incentive to pay. And most people are not as cynical as you or I. Most people want to do the right thing and don't want to break the law. That, however, can change very quickly.

[Dances-with-Trolls]

If they were not insane, it would be liberals who most of all wanted to impeach him.

John, he's the figurehead and all, but it ain't a one-man show by any stretch. Plus, tactical retreats here and there aside, they are winning. Why would they stop?

[John]

But it won't do any good to win if you what you win is a North American Greece. You can only do all of these great liberal projects if people pay their taxes and the government isn't bankrupt.

[John]

Also, they can only win elections if people believe that the government actually will do some good. If people come to see the government as just a corrupt and incompetant tool of the ruling class, they won't be very interested in voting for people who offer government as the solution to every problem.

The thing to remember is that most people don't understand concepts like regulatory capture or Hayek's information problem. They actually think that the government can solve problems. And that is why liberal politics is so seductive. If the average voter loses faith in government and its ability to solve problems, they by extension lose faith in liberalism.

[sarcasmic]

If people come to see the government as just a corrupt and incompetant tool of the ruling class, they won't be very interested in voting for people who offer government as the solution to every problem.

Yeah they will. Because their team is different.

[John]

I don't think so. If they grow to hate government, they will also grow to hate the teams that represent government.

[sarcasmic]

Even if they grow to hate government, most people will remain loyal to their political tribe.

[John]

Not so much anymore. Every year fewer and fewer people self identify as team red or team blue.

[sarcasmic]

Every year fewer and fewer people self identify as team red or team blue.

Yet they continue to vote for them. That's all that matters.

[John]

That theory didn't work out so well for Eric Cantor.

[Dances-with-Trolls]

Reagan attack, top men-ism, all-hail-to-the-state, government should have dibs on your money..

Gee, I wonder if Mr. Zucman is a progressive?

[Sevo]

Elon Musk branches out to new industry. Funded by the taxpayer; surprise!

"Elon Musk seeks to hasten shift to solar by building factory"
http://www.sfgate.com/business.....559840.php

Lefty columnist fawns!

[Dances-with-Trolls]

Does Elon Musk sit up at night and ask himself, "I wonder what I can get these suckers to give me other peoples' money for next?"

[Sevo]

I'm sure upstate NY has a plant sitting empty and they'll make him a hell of a deal!
And those enviro regs, Elon? Well, let's just say not to worry!

[Brett L]

Pretty much. "How can I get the government to give me money to do cool shit I couldn't otherwise afford?"

[Andrew S.]

So the college football bowl game in St. Petersburg, FL is going to be re-named next year as the Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl.

Wonder who's paying for that.

[UnCivilServant]

Wonder who's paying for that.

And are they paying in bitcoins?

[Pro Libertate]

Football at the Trop. Weird. I didn't know until they started doing that that they could make it work for football.

[Heroic Mulatto]

"The opera itself is not anti-Semitic (but) there is a concern the opera could be used in foreign countries as a means to stir up anti-Israel sentiments or as a vehicle to promote anti-Semitism," the ADL said in a statement.

Some people believe the depiction of a Palestinian hijacker pushing a wheelchair-bound elderly man off the deck of a cruise ship to drown in the ocean waters below merely because that man was Jewish provokes hatred of Jews instead of compassion or pity.

Think about that.

[Dances-with-Trolls]

I did.

What do you even say? How can you even have a discussion with someone that warped?

[db]

He thinks audiences are going to jump up and cheer when that happens? What?

[Heroic Mulatto]

I have never seen the opera, but one of the criticisms that some people level at it is that it lionizes the Palestinian hijackers.

And yes, sadly, I believe the scene of them dumping Klinghoffer off the deck of the ship would play well in Nablus, not to mention, say, Paris or Oslo.

[Stormy Dragon]

It doesn't lionize the Palestinians, it just doesn't portray them as cartoonish villains who are only doing it for the evulz.

[SugarFree]

So they had a very legitimate reason to push a wheelchair-bound elderly man into the ocean to drown? Do tell.

[Stormy Dragon]

They did not, but they necessarily must have themselves thought they did. But no, anything more realistic than a Snidely Whiplash style melodrama villain must mean the writer secretly thinks they're the heroes.

[John]

You really think there is a justification for taking over a ship and murdering an innocent old man because he happens to be Jewish?

Jesus Christ Dragon, is there any act you would consider evil? Who cares if they thought they were justified? There is no justification for doing that. What the hell is wrong with you?

[Stormy Dragon]

Yes, I consider this evil. Just because people do evil things doesn't mean they don't have reasons for doing what they do.

Just because an evil character says they're doing something for a particular reason doesn't mean the writer thinks that's a good reason to do something or that they agree with the evil character.

It just means they're not a shit writer and realize characters have to have motivations, even the evil characters.

[John]

If you take a old guy in a wheel chair and shoot him in the head and dump him overboard in front of his wife, you are a cartoonish villain.

If you want to write an opera that points out the plight of the Palestinians and wants them to be seen in a positive light, why the hell would you do it about a horrific and senseless act of Palestinian terrorism? What is the point of doing that if not to say that killing Klinghofer was somehow justified?

The Palestinians as a group are certainly not cartoonish villains. The individual Palestinians who hijack that ship and murdered Klinghoffer most certainly are such and shame on you and the composer of this vile opera for pretending otherwise.

[SugarFree]

A group of white businessmen and media moguls blocked a screening of The Birth of a Nation in Lexington in 1915 because they were afraid it would cause "Negro unrest."

[The Late P Brooks]

More thoughtful, rational analysis from the NYT

You can buy food from farmers ? directly, through markets, any way you can find ? and I hope you do. But unless you're radically different from most of us, much of what you eat comes from corporations that process, market, deliver and sell "food," a majority of which is processed beyond recognition.

The problem is that real food isn't real profitable. "It's hard to market fruit and vegetables without adding value," says Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University. "If you turn a potato into a potato chip you not only make more money ? you create a product with a long shelf life." Potatoes into chips and frozen fries; wheat into soft, "enriched" bread; soybeans into oil and meat; corn into meat and a staggering variety of junk.

How do we break this cycle? You can't blame corporations for trying to profit by any means necessary, even immoral ones: It's their nature.

Without reading farther, I'm going out on a limb and say they make no mention of government "food scientists" and their relentless (and erroneous) nannytarian pestering of America about our eating habits.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Nestle is a lunatic, thus she is the go to person for the NYT for anything food related.

[John]

I am pretty sure growing the food and transporting it to the store is adding value. If there is no money is selling fruits and vegetables, how the hell did United Fruit end up running Central America for a good part of the 20th Century?

[Auric Demonocles]

I am pretty sure growing the food and transporting it to the store is adding value

I sure as hell don't want to go back to working on the farm.

[Restoras]

Me neither.

I never understood the romantic notion of farming. It is back-breaking, life-shortening work that depends on enough randomness to make it a dicey proposition at best.

[Auric Demonocles]

Also it's incredibly repetitive/dull, has horrible and inflexible hours, and involves literal shitshoveling.

[Slammer]

Dangerous, as well.

[Clich? Bandit]

Chris Rufer is proof of that. Dude is a billionaire because of tomatoes. Something a 6 year old can grow at home.

[UnCivilServant]

Agribusiness makes a good profit off fresh food via economics of scale. By being able to pour massive amounts of capital assets into thousdans of acres of farmland, they reduce the costs of production of the staple perishable crops. While they may make pennies per potato, they make a crapton of potatos to make up for it.

[Sevo]

"wheat into soft, "enriched" bread;
[...]
How do we break this cycle?"

Uh, yeah, we all need a bushel or so of freshly harvested wheat rather than bread!
Doesn't everybody have some mill-stones in the back yard?

[Slammer]

If these people had to grow, harvest, protect, process, ship, and sell their own food (and prepare it to eat in their own homes) they would have absolutely no TIME to fix the injustices of the world. Hmmm...maybe the Times is onto something here.

[db]

Holy shit. Things are profitable because of adding.value, not the.other way around, idiot. You have a mountain.full of iron ore? Worthless, until I build a smelter and get some coal to.mix with your.ore.

You have a bunch.of.land? Worthless, until you.cultivate it and grow.food.that someone.wants.

You have a bunch.of wheat? Not.worth.much.until.someone mills.it.into.flour. A bunch.of.flour? Better make.some.bread.

Every step.in the.economic.chain.involves adding.value. and the very definition.of.value.is.that someone.wants something more.than something else they.already have.

SHIT.IS PROFITABLE BECAUSE PEOPLE WANT.IT, MORONS. JESUS, these people are.fucking.g dense.

[sarcasmic]

Next you're going to say that Big Agra is doing people a favor by lowering the price of food as compared to what it would cost if it was all grown on romantic small farms!

Why do you want people to have more money left over with which to buy more things!

Consumerism!

Aaaaaaaaaauuuuggghhh!

[Sevo]

I'll bet you thought that was a joke. Well, Alice Waters begs to differ!

"I do feel like food should cost more, because we aren't paying farmers a living wage. It has to cost more."
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-t.....dren/4507/

[sarcasmic]

The comments are painful.

[Sevo]

Alice thinks 'needy' people are those who can't afford tomatoes with first names.

[UnCivilServant]

Next you're going to say that Big Agra is doing people a favor by lowering the price of food as compared to what it would cost if it was all grown on romantic small farms!

I thought that's exactly what I said.

[Citizen Nothing]

I've been watching the old The X-Files series on DVD and am amazed how anti-government it was.
In last night's epi (season 3 finale) the Smoking Man carefully explains how the government, by providing citizens with amusement and the appearance of security and democracy, gets them to willingly give up freedom and cede power to a small, enlightened cabal.
Chris Carter would probably be thrown in Gitmo if he tried to pull that shit today.

[RBS]

I went on an X-Files bender last summer, I think I watched the entire series in about a month on netflix.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

So during the Nba finals I saw a McDonalds ad where an immigrant father and his son watch the World Cup. The father roots for the country he emigrated from the son his current residence the US.

Now I'm a big supporter of immigration rights, and I can understand immigrants objecting to denigrating their home country and people and having affection for same, but can someone tell me how you can decide that nation A had better policies, institutions and opportunities than nation B, so much so that you relocate there, but you still hold more affection for nation B? It seems like pining for the girl you broke up with rather than the one you chose and who treats you better.

[John]

That is a good question. I have met a ton of recent immigrants whose favorite sport is talking about how lousy America is compared to home. This does in my experience seem to be more common in Latin American immigrants than others. I think there are two reasons. First, is they are making up for their own insecurity. Most of Latin America is poor and corrupt and really shitty compared to the US. The immigrants are keenly aware of this and feel insecure and over compensate. Second, is the sense of victimhood liberals try so hard to engender in Hispanics that they don't seem to do as much in other ethnicites. So if you view yourself as a victim of his country, you tend to like home better. How people square that with staying here is a mystery to me too.

[Slammer]

I can understand nostalgia for one's childhood. The past and it's hardships can make people sentimental for their origin country.

What I don't get is going to a Mexico/USA match in LA and booing the US National Anthem.

[John]

It is because liberals have created a victim culture among Mexicans. They are taught to think that the US stole the SW and it is really Mexico and that the US is a racist country. Basically they come here to take advantage of the country's opportunities but are then put in a culture where it is okay to shit all over the hand that feeds them.

It is a complete reversal of the ethic that past immigrants have had and it will be the death of us if we don't change it. Open boarders can be a great thing, provided you get people who want to come here and be a part of the country and want to make a better life for themselves. It is a disaster if you get people who just come here to fuck things up.

[Restoras]

Victimhood has served them well in turning out legions of loyal voters.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I have met a ton of recent immigrants whose favorite sport is talking about how lousy America is compared to home.

This is common of anyone who lives a long-time in another country. Take any group of expats I met in Bangkok and within 5 minutes there would be an extended conversation about how horrible Thailand is compared to the home country they haven't stepped foot in for over a decade.

[Cyto]

It works for internal migration as well. Anyone who has ever been to a good college or to south Florida can tell you all about New York and New Jersey migrants who are more than happy to expound on the vast superiority of their home turf.

Folks in Phoenix and Vegas probably have similar stories to tell about Californians.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Maybe he prefers the style of play of his native country? He's invested a lot of time watching his native team play?

I've got a good friend that grew up in Columbus, OH. He's a Minnesota Vikings fan. Not a Browns fan. Not a Bengals fan. The reason he's a Vikings fan? Because his older brothers were Vikings fans. Sometimes you just can't explain sports affiliations.

[Lady Bertrum]

People tend to love their parents even if Daddy hit them.

Culture is a strong pull.

[Restoras]

Home is always home and people have a tendency to block out the bad and only remember the good.

[The Late P Brooks]

If the most profitable scenario means that most food choices are essentially toxic ? in the sense that overconsumption will cause illness ? that's a failure of the market, not of individual choice. And government's rightful role is not to form partnerships with industry so that the latter can voluntarily "solve" the problem, but to oversee and regulate industry. Its mandate is to protect public health, and one good step toward fulfilling that right now would be to regulate the marketing of junk to children. Anything short of that is a failure.

The only sensible solution to the child obesity epidemic is to round up all the executives of the food conglomerates and execute them. The Ministry of Plenty will then provide tasty and nutritious food, in carefully calculated quantities to the nation.

"Guard your ration card carefully, Citizen!"

[John]

If the most profitable scenario means that most food choices are essentially toxic ? in the sense that overconsumption will cause illness

Doesn't over consumption of anything cause illness? If I only ate organic kale and red beans and nothing else, I would quickly develop vitamin deficiencies. And there have been fat people since man developed the ability to produce surplus food. You can get fat on anything if you eat too much of it and take in more calories than you burn.

How do people say such stupid shit?

[sarcasmic]

How do people say such stupid shit?

Easy. You see big corporations run by rich people, you feel jealous and envious, you feel nostalgic about romantic small farms, so you find some excuse to attack those evil corporations. That's all it is. Jealousy, envy, and romanticism. You're trying to look at it rationally when there's nothing rational about it.

[Pathogen]

Soylent Green is low in both sodium and sugar, it has some complex carbohydrates, but.. those brilliant men of science are working that out. Most importantly, it's sustainable, Earth friendly, and lowers our carbon footprint. It's the food of the future, but those regressive cave-dwellers in the GOP will have some dimwitted rejection for it... Why do they hate science?

[Andrew S.]

DON'T YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO KEEP YOUR KIDS AWAY FROM ALL THAT JUNK FOOD?

"Daddy, can I have this?"

"No."

"Okay"

(Wait, that's how it goes with my kid. Nevermind. Just an excuse for people to be lazy.)

[Auric Demonocles]

I'm amazed at the stories my coworker tells about his two young kids and how impossible it is to get them to behave ever. Having lunch with him might be the best contraceptive ever. I'm not sure if my sisters and I were just miracle children, I'm whitewashing my childhood, or his kids are just demons, but it would be an awfully big risk to take.

[Andrew S.]

You're probably whitewashing your own childhood. My daughter (5) generally is as perfect an angel as you'd want, but when she decides she's going to be defiant, there's nothing you can do except put her in her room and let her scream.

[Auric Demonocles]

She sounds like no work at all compared to them.

[Lady Bertrum]

It's all about the skills. Some people have parenting skills, others not so much.

If it's impossible to take these kids out in public then, yeah, someone needs to develop some mad skills.

[Cyto]

There's some truth to that. We have friends who have nearly discipline free households and their kids can be a handful at times.

But it is also true that every kid is different. Even kids within the same household can have varying behaviour problems.

When you've had multiple children of your own it is pretty easy to see just how much of our personality is there from birth. My kids are near the good extreme on the behaviour spectrum and they still test Mom and Dad on a continual basis. I can't imagine having to struggle with two or three of the more difficult variety.

One thing I've learned is not to pat yourself on the back too much for your parenting successes. And definitely don't be quick to judge other's parenting techniques.

[Restoras]

If you don't want your kids to eat junk food then don't bring it inot the house.

It really is that easy.

[Lady Bertrum]

Your kids are gonna do what you do. Live it yourself and your kids will develop the same habits.

[Restoras]

I do let them eat crap now and then, especially when we are on a road trip. If we are at home, and they say they are hungry after having a meal I just offer them nuts or dried fruit or cheese or a hard boiled egg - something with nutritional value - and if they really are hungry they will have some, but if they aren't they lose interest.

[Slammer]

What if you have a Harvard education and STILL don't know what to do?

[UnCivilServant]

Having a harvard education makes you less likely to be able to raise kids properly.

[Lady Bertrum]

They confiscate money from citizens via taxation then subsidize sugar, wheat, corn, and soybean farmers who then produce products at low cost. They fund (with confiscated dollars) sub-par science to persuade citizens to eat "healthy" low fat foods (like corn and sugar products) and limit "unhealthy" cholesterol rich foods like beef and eggs. The consequences of which are soring obesity and diabetes rates.

Now, we need the government to solve the problems they created.

Fuck off, Slavers.

[Andrew S.]

The US Patent and Trademark Office has cancelled all trademark registrations for the Washington Football Squadron's name, citing a law against trademarks on offensive or disparaging language: http://thinkprogress.org/defau.....ball-team/

(I'm probably the only Reasonoid who thinks they should change the name, and even I think this is asinine)

[Slammer]

I'm OK with changing it. There are a few others here. I'm cool with Potomacs. Isn't there a native DC animal they can use?

[Auric Demonocles]

I don't think shitweasel will brand as well.

[Pathogen]

"I don't think shitweasel will brand as well."

We'll run that past the focus groups.. see what sticks.. Although, endorsements could be a problem down the road..

[Pathogen]

"..Isn't there a native DC animal they can use?"

The Washington Lobbyists? Or.. The Spineless Washington Jellyfish?

[Sevo]

"Isn't there a native DC animal they can use?"

"Slimy Congrescritters"?
"Lazy Bureaucrats"?
"Ass-licking Chief Justices"?
"Lying Presidents"?

C'mon, you guys

[creech]

The Kleptocrats.

[Auric Demonocles]

If the people it's supposedly offensive to don't find it offensive, under what definition can it be considered offensive?

[Idle Hands]

Your're being silly it's up to educated white elitist's to parse out what is or isn't offensive/sexist/racist. Besides have you seen the literacy rates on some of these reservations, they can't even read how could they possibly know what offends them.

[db]

Jeebus fucking.g Christmas, seriously?

[Pro Libertate]

Washington Defecation.

[Spoonman.]

Washington Scum would be fun. (I also think the name isn't so great.)

[Pro Libertate]

What if they just dropped the 's'? Redkin. They are, really, akin to the reds.

[John]

Republican lawmakers reacted incredulously Tuesday, after Internal Revenue Service personnel informed them that some email records from six IRS employees central to a congressional investigation are unavailable.

The reason? All six of their computers crashed, making their email data unrecoverable.

- See more at: http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/.....Eoht4.dpuf

I am starting to wonder if this IRS thing might finally really start to hurt Obama. This is so brazen. I think it is the end result of the media being so in the tank for Obama. The Republicans are just as craven and capable of wrong doing as the Democrats. The difference is that the Republicans know the media and popular culture are out to get them and this deters all but the most stupid from engaging in too much wrong doing. The problem for the Democrats and especially Obama is that since the media is so in the tank, they are not. It is just a matter of time before they do hit that point. They just won't be able to help themselves. The temptation for wrong doing will just be too great. That they would even try this shows that they think they can get away with anything. Even our media has a limit, if only because eventually things get so out of control the public starts to notice and it forces them to.

[Andrew S.]

Nah, it won't hurt him. Just like a good mafia boss, his underlings do all the dirty work. He's got enough plausible deniability to remain clean.

[Pro Libertate]

I could see him being able to avoid the direct connection, but those e-mails were deleted for a reason, probably because they refer to him being involved. Unless he's even stupider than I already think he is, he wouldn't actually attend the Wannseekonferenz in person.

[VG Zaytsev]

The point to the first lizard's involvement.

[Pro Libertate]

Can we impeach a First Lady?

[Sevo]

"I am starting to wonder if this IRS thing might finally really start to hurt Obama."

I'm afraid shreek is the norm, and we aren't.

[John]

I am not naive enough to think we are the norm. But I am not so hopeless to think that shreek is the norm. If shreek were the norm, Obama wouldn't have George W. Bush level poll numbers right now.

Sometimes reality has a bad habit of intruding on the narrative. This IRS thing is getting so blatant and so ridiculous, even the media is unable to lie about it anymore. And even the ones who are are unable to convince even the lowest information voters to ignore it.

There were a lot of people in the country who still loved Nixon. I can remember knowing them as a kid. People would claim Nixon was right and that he was only breaking into the Dem offices because the Dems were a bunch of communists who were betraying the country and he was going to get proof. They sounded just as ridiculous as people like Shreek do today defending Obama. In fact the two groups sound just alike. At some point though, even the most fanatical defense stops working.

[Slammer]

What might finally change things is the cover-up. Hiding it and lying might turn the tide. This wouldn't have gone anywhere if from the beginning they just admitted targeting groups because of their politics and resigned or got fired because of that.

[Auric Demonocles]

My sister's boyfriend is really liberal. Two weeks ago he even was blaming the current VA problems on Republicans. Last night I was giving him a little bit of background on the current email thing (he already knew about the scandal and that they had started looking into it), in order to tell him the "ask Snowden if he's got them" joke I saw. As soon as I said that a compute crash deleted her emails from the 2 year period in question and they "can't recover" any that went to external parties, he said "So the IRS purposely deleted the emails because they connected the White House to it."

[Pro Libertate]

It couldn't be more obvious. A real "Fourth Estate" would attack this like a mad, cyborg dog. Even if you can't find the e-mails, which is unlikely if you dig deep enough, the administration has just announced that there is something really dirty they're covering up. Not all that long ago, some reporter, somewhere, would see a career opportunity in finding out more.

[db]

They are absolutely banking on the hope that their lapdog in the media will not run this.to.ground, and that any critics who attempt.to can be tarred as.crazy partisans and discredited.effectively.

[John]

Thanks to the internet, the media can't hide this by refusing to cover it. I think things like AD's interaction with his sister's boyfriend are significant and are happening more and more. Increasingly, liberals just can't defend this shit anymore without looking foolish. And no one, least of all right thinking smug liberals, wants to look foolish.

This thing blowing over depends upon the entire country believing the most self evident ridiculous lie imaginable. Some will of course do just that. But the country is evenly divided enough a lot won't. And more importantly, a lot of people who want to believe won't be able to because believing will require them looking like fools to those who don't.

[Lady Bertrum]

The alternative is that the IRS has terrible IT systems. The IRS, the organization responsible for collecting the personal financial information of all Americans and for administering the tax and subsidy portion of Obamacare has IT systems so shitty they cannot produce employee e-mails?

How can we trust the IRS to do it's core functions properly if they cannot produce basic employee records?

[Pro Libertate]

That's not what happened. If they'd had a catastrophic failure where the entire agency's servers blew up, along with their backups, maybe that's remotely plausible. But that's not what happened. They either are attempting to delete the e-mails, or they evaded backup requirements in the first place.

I'd also be subpoenaing the crap out of every senior IRS official's private e-mails and texts.

[db]

Exactly! At this point, it has to be assumed that a massive attempt at cover up is being.undertaken, and *everything* needs.to.be.saved and.subpoenaed to protect whatever shreds of.truth remain.

Imagine if the Enron.investigators.had riddled their.thumbs and allowed.all.evidence.of.wrongdoing.to be destroyed. That would have.been criminal.in itself.

[Pro Libertate]

If the president were entirely innocent and shocked to learn that gambling was occurring at Rick's, then the IRS would be raided, with all of the servers and documents seized.

Like with other things, the lack of a response strongly indicates complicity. At a minimum.

[Raven Nation]

the lack of a response strongly indicates complicity

Possibly. It could also be a realization that the WH had created the environment for this kind of crap to take place. Wanting to maintain the loyalty of the apparatchik's they decide to protect them.

In that, I see a parallel with Watergate. I don't think Nixon ordered the break in but he created an environment wherein that was considered acceptable.

[Pro Libertate]

And the cover-up took him down, too.

[Brett L]

Reading the McArdle story linked on Instapundit, the thing that stands out to me is that there was apparently nothing on that hard drive important enough to recover from backup. I'm sure lots of IT service techs will tell you how people just say, "yeah, I don't need anything. Just give me a clean install" when their hard disk shits the bed.

[Pro Libertate]

I've got a feeling some IT guy is about to give up some goods when questioned about all of this.

[db]

Funny how IT guys.manage to shoot themselves in the back.of the head so.often.

[creech]

Woodward and Bernstein became media heroes. Their equivalent in uncovering Obama wrong-doing would become media pariahs. It will take a ton of courage to risk one's career to take down the Blue Team's number one.

[Pro Libertate]

It's going to take overwhelming evidence and a public outcry that threatens the future of the Democrats for them to do anything. The media or their party overlords.

[John]

Exactly. I am starting to think we are getting close to that point. I think it comes down to the November elections. If the Dems do okay or just lose a few seats in the Senate, then nothing will ever come from this because the Democrats will see no reason not to continue defending Obama. Going after their own President entails a ton of risk and will necessarily alienate a lot of people in the party. They won't do that unless they have no other choice.

If November is a real blood bath for the Democrats, the remaining Democrats in Congress and the party as a whole will conclude that they have no chance in 2016 if they don't do something about Obama. When that happens, the media will no longer be able to portray all of this as just another example of Republicans who can't handle a black President. Even the media can't ignore bipartisan outrage over something. They will be forced to follow along and stop covering so much for Obama.

Obama has already said losing the Senate will make life unbearable for him over the last two years of his Presidency. That is not because he fears what Republicans will do to him. It is because he knows what Democrats will do if supporting and defending him comes to be seen as a political liability.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Risk one's career? With this crew, it might be risk one's life.

[Citizen Nothing]

Their equivalent in uncovering Obama wrong-doing would become media pariahs

I don't agree. Yes, reporters are overwhelmingly Dems/Progs, but there's enough real idealism remaining in newsrooms to make some stories too good/to obvious to resist. I think the IRS scandal is venturing into that territory.
Greenwald got the Pulitzer, after all.

[VG Zaytsev]

Lol, that's a good one.

[Citizen Nothing]

So Greenwald didn't get the Pulitzer? Was it all just a dream?
But seriously. I personally know reporters who would fucking KILL to win a Pulitzer, Obama, Jesus, or whothefuckever be damned.
(FYI, I just won third prize in a national newspaper features writing contest, so I, like, got THAT goin' for me.)

[VG Zaytsev]

Yeah, the problem is that the Obama administration just hasn't had any real scandals worth pursuing and journalists are just chomping at the bit, ready to go into full attack mode against the imperial presidency.

Sometime in February 2017 no doubt.

[Citizen Nothing]

So you really think that most reporters are so principled that their love for Obama and all he stands for would divert them from Pulitzer glory?
You really think that, just to pull a favorite "Reason" name out of a hat, Dave Weigel wouldn't sell out Obama in a heartbeat if he thought he had a chance to be referenced, for the rest of his life, as "Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Dave Weigel"?

[VG Zaytsev]

In the abstract sure.

In the real world where doing so risks charges of racism, career loss and ostracism. Not A Fucking Chance In Hell.

[Pro Libertate]

I do think there are plenty of reporters who would do it, but there aren't many organizations that would support it. Even Woodward and Bernstein needed Ben Bradlee's support.

I think even totally party rags like The New York Times would turn on the administration if the evidence were overwhelming and the public had totally flipped out. The problem isn't whether there's a point where they'd investigate, the problem is how long they'd wait and actively try to support the cover up. If they're successful, we may never get to the point where the pressure is great enough to force their hand.

John made a good point earlier--what might make them act, despite the above, is some enterprising blogger who can actually produce a smoking gun. They fear that more than they love leftwing politics, I think.

[Citizen Nothing]

In my fever dreams, I picture a crack team of WSJ reporters already on the case.

[Pro Libertate]

We do seem to be approaching a point where this story is simply too tempting to pass up. . .or risk getting totally scooped on.

[BakedPenguin]

The one area of competency these shitweasels have is in backstabbing - metaphorically, and possibly literally.

[Citizen Nothing]

There's a lot of bodies to climb over on the way to the Washington bureau.

[Raven Nation]

Not only that, anyone who wants to take on Team Blue will have to fight their own bosses. Look at Sheryl Atkisson (sp?).

[VG Zaytsev]

US patent office cancels the Redskin's trademark.

WTF

[EDG reppin' LBC]

They're fucked.

[Slammer]

Washington Whatthefucks

[Bam!]

In addition to a politicized IRS, we'll now have a politicized patent office. Great.

[db]

Well, I'm of two minds on this. One, the.government has.no business fucking.g around with companies' branding and this is growing.out.of.a.long.standing ridiculous.political correctness feud.

On the.other.hand, you live.by the government guarantee, you.die.by the government guarantee.

[Citizen Nothing]

Since the team doesn't own the trademark, does that mean everyone will soon be selling, buying and wearing "Redskins" gear?

[db]

Get on Cafe Press!

[Bam!]

NFL could prevent that by refusing to sell official trademarked NFL gear of other teams to any retailer who sells unlicensed Redskins gear.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Daniel Snyder will appeal this decision, and it will be in the courts for years. I assume he'll get an injunction this afternoon to stop the ruling from being enforced (any lawyers know?). But yes, this means you and I can start making and selling Redskins merch with impunity.

[John]

I don't know trademark law. Those who do please feel free to correct me. I don't see how the previous decisions that it wasn't offensive don't get some deference. The Redskins are not applying for a new trademark. They already have one. I can't believe that the patent office has the power to just arbitrarily revoke trademarks. What has changed since the trademark was granted that would justify this decision? I can't see anything. I would be shocked if this decision holds up in court.

[VG Zaytsev]

I find it really hard to believe that they have the power to revoke an existing trademark.

I'm sure all those journos itching to attack Obama will all over this story like stink on shit.

[Mike M.]

Seriously? Obama and his minions have arrogated to themsleves the power to do pretty much anything they want to; why would this be any different?

[Andrew S.]

They have the statutory authority, but I can't imagine it would hold up on constitutional grounds (in a sane court system). Eugene Volokh has a good rundown (on that same path) here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....rademarks/

[Pro Libertate]

Well, I'd not want to be the person trying to use the mark, since it's one with national geographic scope. If nothing else, they have a common law trademark.

It's a bit taking-like, it seems to me, and the Redskins have an absolutely marvelous argument that other teams with names that offend someone have trademarks.

[Mike M.]

and it will be in the courts for years

No it won't; you're forgetting who runs America now. His lawsuits will be dismissed pretty quickly.

[Citizen Nothing]

And what does this mean for Chief Wahoo? Will he soon be in the public domain?
"Chief Wahoo and the Giant Loser Rats of Sumatra."

[John]

What does it mean for the drunken Lepricon at Notre Dame?

[Citizen Nothing]

Coming soon from Alan Vanneman: "Chief Wahoo and the Giant Leprechauns of Killarney"

[db]

"Lepricon."

There is just a whole barrage of.imagery here.

[Citizen Nothing]

Wasn't that one of the Battlestar Galactica planets? Or am I thinking of Darby O'Gill and the Little People?

[db]

Think Comic-Con for.people with a thing for lepers. And the lepers that turn them on.

[Pro Libertate]

Hey, that's right, they could change the name to the Sherlocks. Or the Baker Street Irregulars. I like the latter, because it has a built-in song, and people could dress as street urchins and say things like "Oi!" and "Got a touchdown for me, guv?"

[VG Zaytsev]

Does the US patent office have the legal authority to cancel a long standing trademark?

[Auric Demonocles]

I believe they are using the justification that they messed up and it shouldn't have been issued in the first place.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Correct.

[Clich? Bandit]

but trademark is founded in common law isn't it? So the whole first use thing is important here.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

From Volokh:

Blackhorse v. Pro Football, Inc. (USPTO TTAB June 18, 2014). A quick excerpt:

[T]hese registrations must be cancelled because they were disparaging to Native Americans at the respective times they were registered, in violation of Section 2(a) of the Trademark Act of 1946, 15 U.S.C. ? 1052(a) [which bars, in relevant part, registrations of marks that "may disparage ... persons, living or dead, institutions, beliefs, or national symbols, or bring them into contempt, or disrepute"]. This decision concerns only the statutory right to registration under Section 2(a). We lack statutory authority to issue rulings concerning the right to use trademarks.

Volokhs blog post.

[VG Zaytsev]

I look forward to team orange not covering this story because abuse of government power is just grand when it fights racism.

[Ted S.]

I preferred Nuns on the Run.